A few questions about headphones

[dymed]

I am looking into getting a pair of headphones for my mp3 player (iPod) that I will soon get and was wondering if anyone here could recommend one that suits my needs, since I know next to nothing about them. What I do know is that the stock iPod headphones and the crappy, cheap Sony ones I have are just not going to cut it.

 

 

 

What I am looking for are those ear-canal headphones/in-ear monitors. Those are the most convenient to carry, with some of the best sound quality available. They also fit very well.

 

 

 

The most important parameter would be my budget. Looking for and reading about them for the past day or two has made me realize that the really good ones run extremely expensive, into the hundreds and thousands of dollars. My budget is around 35 to 40 dollars, so I understand that I will not be able to get crazy good ones, but I'm sure there are headphones out there that are decent and in that price range (I hope...)

 

 

 

Also, I will be using them on the New York City subway and New Jersey trains and other loud places, so external noise-reduction would be a great plus.

 

 

 

I've heard that the Apple in-ear headphones are not bad from a few friends of mine, but I've never really tried them out for very long. They are $40 normally, but seem to be going for $20, so that's definitely a plus.

 

Apple in-ear headphones

 

 

 

I've been reading about a lot of good things about the Sennheiser brand. Their CX300 headphones seem to be one of the best values for the price. I see them a lot for 70 or 80 dollars in some places, but amazon.com has them for $38 and a third-party seller (with a very good rating) is selling a new pair for as low as $27. :?

 

Sennheiser CX300

 

 

 

Another couple people recommended the Zune Premium Earphones to me today so I decided to check them out. There are a lot of mixed reviews though. They are 20 to 30 dollars so that's great, I just don't want them to be garbage.

 

Zune Premium Earphones

 

 

 

There are a few more headphones that I have been looking at but don't have the time to link to right now; I'll try to once I get home from class. If anyone has any personal experience with certain ones or knows good things about anything, do share. As much as I would love to grab a pair of $100+ Bose or Shure headphones, I simply can't afford them so please don't talk about how great they are and make me feel bad. :P And really, I don't need something that is uber-amazing. I'm no audiophile, but I do appreciate quality sound and can tell the difference between a crappy headphone set and something that sounds nice and provides full sound.

 

 

 

Thanks a lot. :D

 

 

 

edit: Oh yeah, one quick question: I've been seeing driver sizes from as low as 9mm to over 50mm, and generally, the bigger ones are more expensive. What exactly is that and is bigger equal to better?

[rushrock]

Some of the ones here are cheap enough (but not so cheap that they'll fall apart easily) and offer good sound cancellation and quality. They look awesome too.

[limpbizkit]

TBH i wouldn't spend out allot on a pair of headphones esp if your like me and go through a couple of pairs a month.

[Abelmisi]

I had these ones for a while, I think they are a great value for their price.

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-EX51LP-F ... 237&sr=8-3

[purfishx]

Logitech's are the best imo.

[Medellin]

Lol what? Apple buds are horrible

 

 

 

Of your list, Sennheiser is the best.

[tryto]

seinheiser are the best by far.

 

Personally, i use seinheiser in-canal for daily use, and in the car and on airplanes i use my Bose Noise-cancellation headphones(theyre kind of expensiive however)

[biggy08755]

I have These

 

 

 

They're only $20 at overstock, and they are pretty good. Not the best at noise cancellation but they do get loud.

[Hitman247m]

I'm gonna reccomend the ones I have. They're a bit pricy, but they own pretty much everything else I've used in the past, including some $200+ stereo ones

 

 

 

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10065811&catid=24921

[amoeba_009]

Wow, someones into their earphones. :roll: XD I KID! Okay well, just go into your local best buy/ future shop/ electronic store, and buy a pair of Samsung head/earphones. The best IMO.

[dsavi]

I think this belongs on Tech and Computers...

[dymed]

Wow, someones into their earphones. :roll: XD I KID! Okay well, just go into your local best buy/ future shop/ electronic store, and buy a pair of Samsung head/earphones. The best IMO.

 

 

 

Heh, I know it may seem like I'm being a bit crazy, but I really like to research my stuff before I buy them; I'm not one to spend my money on just anything. Mainly because I don't have so much to go around. :P

 

 

 

Looking over everything, it seems my two best bets are the Shure E2C and the Sennheiser CX300. They both seem to be the ideal headphones for me. Half jokingly, I put in "shure e2c vs. sennheiser cx300" into google and to my surprise, I found a whole bunch of direct matches. Apparently I'm not the only one to be torn between the two and they are frequently compared to each other.

 

 

 

Although both are hailed as very good for their price range (and even against more expensive ones), there are very mixed reviews about which is better.

 

 

 

Shure E2C

 

http://www.music123.com/Shure-E2-Sound- ... 3?cm_mmc=$

 

 

 

Sennheiser CX300

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX-300 ... 51&sr=1-37

 

 

 

Basically, the Shure E2C is supposed to be more sound-isolating while lacking a bit of bass but handles the mid-range and highs better. The CX300 is slightly less sound-isolating but has a deep bass, that most people say is better than the E2C but a bunch say that the E2C has it perfect and the CX300 overdoes it.

 

 

 

If anyone has any personal experience with either they could share, that'd be great. I just wish I could try both before I decide.